Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has been banned from driving for six months after receiving two separate motoring convictions in the space of just two days.
The former England midfielder was sentenced following cases involving a speeding offence in West Yorkshire and a failure to provide information to police in Greater Manchester.
Scholes, 51, was also ordered to pay a combined £1,472 in fines, costs and victim surcharges following hearings at two magistrates’ courts last week.
The first case related to an incident on March 3, when a Range Rover registered to the former footballer was detected travelling above the speed limit on the A649 Halifax Road near Cleckheaton.
Court documents obtained by the Press Association show the vehicle was recorded at 37mph in a 30mph zone shortly after 11.30pm.
West Yorkshire Police subsequently issued a notice of intended prosecution and Scholes responded to confirm that he had been driving.
He was unable to resolve the matter through a speed awareness course because he was classed as a “totter”, meaning he already had penalty points on his licence and had reached the threshold for a mandatory disqualification.
Scholes was sentenced at Bradford Magistrates’ Court on August 12.
Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has been banned from driving for six months after receiving two separate motoring convictions in the space of just two days
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PA
He received a six-month driving ban and was ordered to pay a £220 fine, £120 in costs and an £88 victim surcharge.
His legal problems continued the following day when a separate case was dealt with at Manchester Magistrates’ Court.
That prosecution stemmed from an incident involving a Mercedes registered in Scholes’s name on November 14 last year.
The car was recorded travelling at 49mph in a 30mph limit on the A670 Mossley Road near Ashton-under-Lyne at approximately 11.10am.
Paul Scholes was fined £660 and received six penalty points
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PAGreater Manchester Police sought confirmation over who had been driving the vehicle and said two letters were sent to Scholes’s home.
According to the court documents, “no reply has been received”.
Police ultimately dropped the speeding allegation itself but proceeded with the prosecution over the failure to respond to the requests for information.
Scholes was fined £660 and received six penalty points. He was additionally ordered to pay £120 in costs and a £264 victim surcharge.
A court official confirmed that the former United midfielder had not entered pleas in either case and was convicted in his absence.
Both matters were dealt with privately under the Single Justice Procedure, which allows certain criminal cases to be decided by a magistrate without a traditional public hearing.
The convictions come more than a decade after Scholes brought an end to one of the most decorated playing careers in English football.
He spent his entire senior club career at Manchester United after emerging through their academy and became a central figure during Sir Alex Ferguson’s hugely successful reign.
Scholes made 499 league appearances for United and was capped 66 times by England.
His extensive collection of honours included 11 Premier League titles, three FA Cups and two Champions League triumphs.
He initially retired in 2011 before reversing that decision several months later and returning to help United, eventually calling time on his playing career permanently in 2013.
The former midfielder will now be unable to drive for six months following the conclusion of the two separate cases.